Christopher“Adam”Red

Primary Member, Tribal Representative

Primary Member, Southern Ute Tribe, Royalty Policy Committee

Christopher “Adam” Red was named as a primary member of the Department of Interior’s Royalty Policy Committee, and as a member of this committee advises Secretary Zinke “on policy and strategies to improve management of the multi-billion dollar, federal and American Indian mineral revenue program.”

Christopher “Adam” Red, who is a member of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, has held various tribal positions. From 1995 to 2005, he was a wildlife technician with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, during which time he also got his bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado. From 2005 to 2006, he was a Tribal Ranger. Red, from September 2006 to December 2016, was a GIS Specialist with the Southern Ute Growth Fund, an entity that “operates and manages the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s businesses and business investments” and “oversees a significant portfolio of companies and investments in energy, real estate, construction, and private equity.” Within the Growth Fund, Red worked for the Department of Energy, one of the operations that the Growth Fund runs that “ensures that the Southern Ute Indian Tribe receives the maximum benefit from the energy and mineral resources located on the Reservation, and minimizes the impacts of the extraction of these resources on the natural and cultural environments” and that also “manages Tribal oil and gas leases and surface use agreements.” Since December 2016, Red has been a Council Member for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.

Background Information

Previous Employers

Adam Red was involved with preparing a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Shale Formation Oil and Gas Development on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation that proposed “shale development across the entire Reservation.”

A “Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for Shale Formation Oil and Gas Development” on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation is being prepared by “the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Southern Ute Indian Tribe (SUIT).” [“Shale Formation Oil and Gas Development,” Southern Ute Indian Tribe Growth Fund, accessed 09/27/17]

The PowerPoint concluded that the “proposed action” was “shale development across the entire Reservation,” “where the Tribe owns either the minerals, the land, or both.” Another proposed action was “new leasing” on a “case-by-case basis.” [“Public Outreach Meeting: Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement,” Southern Ute Indian Tribe Growth Fund, accessed 09/27/17]

Adam Red said that developing shale formation oil and gas on the reservation had to be “‘environmentally sound.'”

When he was working at the Southern Ute Department of Energy, in 2016, Adam Red participated in a “tribal outreach meeting, which addressed updates and particular concerns regarding the development of shale formation oil and gas” on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation.

In response to tribal members who voiced concerns over the proposal, Adam Red said, “‘Our whole purpose is to do this environmentally sound… We are going to protect our tribal surface.”

Current Activity

The Southern Ute Tribal Council, which Adam Red is a member of, “is working very diligently to pass the Smart Act… which will remove the Secretary’s approval and the Tribe will be the exclusive decision maker in building new infrastructure and projects.”

If the Smart Act is passed, then “the Southern Ute Indian Tribe will be the only tribe able to do that.”